JPH053207Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) This invention relates to a gas-containing beverage manufacturing device that contains gas in fruit juice, liquid yogurt, or the like.

(Prior technology) Conventional gas-filled beverages are premixed, in which they are filled with gas and then sterilized.
−20347).

An apparatus for continuously making a carbonated beverage product and filling it into containers also includes a stabilization tank, a source of liquid to be carbonated, and a pipe connecting the liquid source and the stabilization tank. a pressurized carbon dioxide source and said tube connected to said carbon dioxide source and for supplying carbon dioxide to the flowing liquid to be carbonated to produce a carbonated product prior to entering said stabilization tank. A carbonator installed in the
a first valve and a vacuum tank disposed between the stabilization tank and the pressurized carbon dioxide source to control the head pressure of carbon dioxide above the carbonated product in the stabilization tank; a tube connecting between the stabilization tank and the vacuum tank; and a second valve connected to the vacuum tank to control the head pressure of carbon dioxide above the carbonated product in the vacuum tank. , a filling device for dispensing the carbonated product;
There has been known a beverage carbonation and filling device which is characterized by comprising a pipe that directly connects the vacuum tank and the filling device to provide open communication between them (Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-47031). issue).

(Problems to be solved by invention) However, the invention of the aforementioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-20347,
There have been problems in that it is difficult to produce carbonated drinks containing fruit juice, in which carbon dioxide gas is easily separated, and yogurt drinks containing gas, which have a high solid content and are easy to foam. In addition, in the invention of Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-47031, when carbonating an acidic yogurt drink with a high solid content, the carbonated product does not foam in a stabilizing tank with high internal pressure, but when it is transferred to a reduced pressure tank. There was a problem in that the control device attached to the decompression tank could not operate properly due to severe foaming during the decompression process, and there was also a non-negligible loss of gas during depressurization. Furthermore, the control method of the invention, which detects the gas pressure in the pressure chamber with a pressure switch and operates a carbon dioxide gas regulating solenoid valve to control the amount of carbon dioxide gas blown, differs from this invention in control technology. .

(Means for solving the problem) However, in this invention, beverage and gas are simultaneously fed into a two-fluid nozzle to form a mixture, this is cooled during a relatively slow flow, and then a low-pressure gas By placing the tank in the tank under the same conditions as possible, the device is designed to ensure stable gas absorption at as low a pressure as possible from the beginning, to prevent foaming caused by the transition from the high-pressure stabilization tank to the decompression tank, and to fill the tank sequentially. In this way, continuous production of gas-filled yogurt drinks and the like was made possible, and the problems of the conventional method were solved.

That is, this idea connects the beverage supply pipe and the gas supply pipe to the inlet side of the two-fluid nozzle, connects the inlet pipe to the plate cooler to the outlet side of the two-fluid nozzle, and connects the inlet pipe to the plate cooler. A discharge pipe is connected to one side of the upper part of the pressure chamber, a gas supply pipe is connected to the other side of the upper part of the pressure chamber, and a transfer pipe with an automatic opening/closing valve connected to the filling machine is connected to the lower part of the pressure chamber. A gas-containing beverage manufacturing device was constructed. Further, the pressure and output of the beverage in the pressure chamber are controlled by a gas supply pipe, a pressure gauge, a relief valve, and a liquid level detector. Further, the output of the liquid level gauge was used as an input to a control device installed in the beverage feed pipe and the gas feed pipe before the two-fluid nozzle. In addition, the control equipment includes an automatic on-off valve and a metering pump for feeding beverages, which are installed in each feeding pipe.

The pressure chamber described above is set at a constant pressure, and the pressure difference with the pressure inside the filling machine hopper is mainly made as small as possible to prevent foaming (foaming occurs if the pressure difference is large). Therefore, excess gas pressure is continuously discharged out of the system through the relief valve of the pressure chamber. In addition, the amount of gas consumed depends on the pressure inside the blowing system at the time of injection, so the pressure between the plates of the cooler should be reduced to reduce the pressure at the time of blowing, and to prevent a large pressure difference from occurring in the beverage flow path after gas is added. A plate cooler is used to flow from top to bottom in parallel flow and re-cool (increase the dissolved amount).

That is, the blowing pressure is made slightly larger than the sum of the pressure loss of the plate cooler and the set internal pressure of the pressure chamber, and is reduced as much as possible. Further, it is preferable to reduce the set pressure of the pressure chamber as much as possible by exceeding the set pressure of the filling machine hopper and the resistance of the transfer pipe capable of sending liquid to the filling machine.

(Function) That is, according to this invention, since the two-fluid nozzle is used, the gas and the beverage can be mixed relatively easily, and the two can come into contact with each other over a wide contact area. Furthermore, since a plate cooler is used, cooling is performed at a relatively low speed and with little pressure difference, thereby preventing foaming due to gas. Furthermore, since the pressure chamber is kept at a constant pressure, uniform filling can be achieved.

(Example) Next, an example of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

One end of a beverage supply pipe 3 equipped with a pump 2 is connected to a yogurt beverage raw material liquid surge tank 1, and the beverage supply pipe 3 is equipped with a flowmeter 4 with a control valve, an automatic opening/closing valve 5, and a check valve 11. are successively interposed, and the other end is connected to a gas injector 6 known as a two-fluid nozzle. At the bottom of the gas injector 6 is a connecting pipe 7.
A pressure chamber 10 is connected to the outlet side of the plate cooler 8 via a connecting pipe 9. A check valve 11a, an automatic opening/closing valve 12, a flow meter 13 with a control valve, a sterile filter 14, and a pressure reducing valve 15 are sequentially installed in the gas feed pipe 34 of the gas injector 6 from the gas injector 6 side. , is connected to a gas base pipe 19, and a sterile filter 16 and a pressure reducing valve 17 are successively installed in the gas supply pipe 18 to the pressure chamber 10,
It is connected to the gas base pipe 19. The discharge side of the pressure chamber 10 is connected to a hopper 21 of a filling machine 22 via a transfer pipe 20. 23 in the diagram
24 is a pressure gauge, 25 is a relief valve, and 26 and 27 are liquid level detectors. In addition, if there is a gas that is difficult to dissolve in the beverage (for example, _N2 gas), an automatic valve, metering pump, vacuum chamber, and automatic opening/closing with a liquid level detector are installed between surging tank 1 and pump 2. A circuit 31 with valves is provided.

Next, the process of producing a gas-filled yogurt drink using this invention will be explained.

After sterilization, a beverage prepared by adding sugars and the like to fermented yogurt is cooled in a surging tank 1. The cooled beverage, ie, the raw material liquid, is sent from the surging tank 1 by a metering pump 2 to a gas injector 6 through a flow meter 4 in a beverage feed pipe 3 and an automatic on-off valve 5 . On the other hand, carbon dioxide gas enters the gas supply pipe 34 from the gas base pipe 19, passes through the pressure reducing valve 15, the sterile filter 14, and the flow meter 1.
3. The gas is sent to the gas injector via the automatic on-off valve 12 and the check valve 11a. gas injector 6
has a double structure in which a gas nozzle 6b is arranged outside a beverage nozzle 6a, and is indicated by arrows 32 and 32 in FIG.
The beverage and gas fed as shown in 33 are blown out from the nozzle, so the beverage is dispersed in the gas and becomes a mixed fluid that flows through the connecting pipe 7 as shown by arrow 28.
and enters the plate cooler 8. In the plate cooler 8, the flow is relatively slow between the parallel plates, so there is little pressure rise, the beverage and gas are mixed and cooled slowly, and the gas is dissolved in the beverage. The beverage thus cooled, together with the excess gas, is sent via the connecting pipe 9 to the pressure chamber 10 as indicated by the arrow 29. This pressure chamber 10 is provided with a pressure gauge 24, a relief valve 25, and a liquid level detector 26 to maintain a constant pressure. are connected. Then, the liquid level in the pressure chamber 10 is detected, and when the liquid level reaches the upper limit, the automatic on-off valves 5 and 12 are closed.
Stop metering pump 2. On the other hand, when the liquid level reaches the lower limit, the automatic on-off valve 12 is opened, the metering pump 2 is started, and the automatic on-off valve 5 is opened to feed the cooled beverage into the pressure chamber 10. Further, the beverage is sent from the pressure chamber 10 through the feed pipe 20 to the hopper 21 of the filling machine 22 as shown by the arrow 30, but if the liquid level detector 27 of the hopper 21 detects the upper limit of the liquid level, pressure chamber 1
0 closes the automatic opening/closing valve 23 on the outlet side. If the liquid level reaches the lower limit, the automatic on-off valve 23 is opened,
The internal pressure of the pressure chamber 10 forces the beverage through the feed pipe 20. There pressure chamber 10
The set pressure is set to be slightly higher than the sum of the set pressure of the hopper 21 and the feeding resistance of the feeding pipe 20 (it is sufficient that the feeding is carried out smoothly). Also, the gas supply pressure is
Adjust the pressure so that it is the same as or slightly higher than the set pressure of the pressure chamber 10.

(Effect of the invention) According to this invention, the beverage and carbon dioxide gas, in which gas is difficult to dissolve and easily foam, are mixed with the two-fluid nozzle and then introduced into the plate cooler, so that the beverage and gas can be mixed as much as possible. This has the effect of efficiently dissolving the gas into the drink by mixing it with the drink over a relatively wide area, and since the pressure difference during cooling is small, the dissolved gas is maintained as it is.

Further, the pressure is kept the same by the pressure chamber, and the inflow of the liquid level of the beverage is controlled by the liquid level gauge, which has the effect of keeping filling conditions constant and preventing exhaust loss of excess gas.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram including piping of an apparatus for implementing this invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a gas injector as an embodiment of a two-fluid nozzle. 1... surge tank, 6... gas injector, 8... plate cooler, 10... pressure chamber, 22... filling machine.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. Connecting a beverage supply pipe and a gas supply pipe to the inlet side of a two-fluid nozzle, and connecting an inlet pipe to a plate cooler to the outlet side of the two-fluid nozzle, The discharge pipe of the plate cooler is connected to one side of the upper part of the pressure chamber, the gas inlet pipe is connected to the other side of the upper part of the pressure chamber, and the lower part of the pressure chamber is equipped with an automatic opening/closing valve connected to the filling machine. A gas-filled beverage manufacturing device that connects pipes. 2. The gas-filled beverage manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure applied to the beverage in the pressure chamber is controlled by a gas feed pipe, a pressure gauge, a relief valve, and a liquid level detector. 3. The gas-filled beverage manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the output of the liquid level detector is input to a control device installed in the beverage supply pipe and the gas supply pipe in front of the two-fluid nozzle. 4. The gas-filled beverage manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control device is an automatic opening/closing valve interposed in each feeding pipe and a metering pump for feeding the beverage.